Month-long Hindu pilgrimage ends

Srinagar - A month-long Hindu pilgrimage in Kashmir ended yesterday after 65,000 devotees paid homage to a holy ice stalagmite shaped like a phallus, the symbol of Shiva, the Hindu god of death. The pilgrimage was scaled down this year after some 250 of the 85,000 people taking part in 1996 froze to death following blizzards, rainstorms and landslides. - (AFP)